Flood waters on the river Suir in the center of Thurles Town have reduced considerably over the past three days; as can be observed by the two photographs shown above.
With rainfall forecast by Met Éireann expected to be below average for most areas in Tipperary this week, same is likely to offer some consolation to those worse affected further south of our county.
‘Tractor Action’ Meeting Scheduled For Muintir na Tíre Hall, Littleton.
A meeting will take place in the Muintir na Tíre Hall in Littleton, Thurles, this evening to discuss possible fund-raising ideas for those particularly badly affected by the recent Tipperary flooding. The meeting has been called by Mr Michael Fahey Chairperson of the recent successful “All Ireland Tractor Challenge” and will operate under the name “Tractor Action”, with a view to raising extra funding for flood victims in the county.
Mr Fahey is requesting that as many people as possible attend tonight’s meeting, which will begin at 7:30pm sharp and seek to find possible ideas to assist those worst affected.
Tipperary County Council stated yesterday that the risk of high flooding in parts of the south of the county had abated however the situation will continue to be closely monitored over the coming days and weeks.
If you have 20 minutes to spare, pack your camera and drive to Galbertstown Upper, which is 4 miles outside of Thurles town, out the Sugar Factory Road. The road is completely flooded, so bad, so that the length of the flood on the road is about 100 metres. Its impassible. Cars have to turn around all day every day, and make a huge detour just to get to their house. The fields are completely covered at each side, there is a daily dose of nature in the fields from ducks to swans. Its very dangerous and no one in Thurles or North Tipp is doing anything about it. It needs to be drained. We are not even half way through the storms yet, and I’m sure there are more to come. My parents live at the edge of the flood, and are in danger of their house being flooded any day now. The elections are coming up soon, an I’m sure there will be politicians coming around around looking for a vote, how can we vote for someone when they won’t do anything about the community.
Hi Caroline.
Sorry to hear of you and your parents plight.
I have already visited this area and observed at first hand the present unacceptable existing conditions. However to be fair to Politicians and Co. Councillors of all party affiliations, their hands are tied. In 1997 Ireland signed the EU Habitats Directive into law. By doing so this almost 10 year old EU Directive now prevents badly needed dredging and drainage work on our rivers and streams, around the whole country, to be undertaken.
Over the coming months Politicians and Co. Councillors together with EU representatives must sit down and examine this new phenomenon of weather conditions which cause flooding. I recently held brief conversations with Tipperary Councillor Seamus Hanafin and M.Lowry TD who both stated that even if funding was readily available immediately to undertake the dredging of our lakes and rivers, the work could not be undertaken without breaking this EU Directive.
Work funded and about to be undertaken on the Thurles / Nenagh Road has been delayed for years due to complaints from local environmentalists, who do not want a river habitat interfered with; latter which runs by the road side, close to extremely dangerous bends.
While I agree the need for this EU Directive; same must now be immediately revisited in relation to Irish flooding; to enable Council engineers to carry out controlled necessary urgent works.